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4/34 Robert Morton Organ
Ohio Theatre - Columbus, OH
Solo Chamber
Other Photos

solo shaft No, this is not the view Santa Claus has on Christmas after delivering presents to a house! This ladder is how one accesses the Solo chamber of the organ. Across from the ladder on the left is a door which has to then be opened in order to get in the chamber itself. Needless to say this is not for someone who does not like vertical ladders.


The left photo below shows the upper level expression shutters for the Solo chamber. The entire Morton organ is under expression meaning all pipework is behind expression shutters. The shutters are operated by the pedals on the console. Since the volume of the pipes is constant, the shutters allow the organist to vary the volume. The right photo is a good illustration of exactly how much things are crammed into the chamber. Straight ahead we can see some of the traps as well as several air supply lines. At the bottom are a couple wind chests, and at the top is the second level of pipes. Between the equipment on the floor and the levels of pipes it is difficult to stand up in this chamber.
shutters pipes


LEFT: In the center of the photo is one of the wind reservoir for the Solo chamber. CAPA Director of Maintenance Phil Hidy pointed out that specific wind reservoir stating that when it was releathered in 2007 the job had to be done in place because it was next to impossible to physically remove it from the chamber. "We would have to remove 3/4 of the pipes and stuff in this chamber in order to get to the chest.", said Hidy. RIGHT: Here we see the wire board for the solo chamber and the large gray air supply pipe from the blower.

chest electrics



Solo - Wind regulator chest More air reservoirs! These help regulate the air to the wind chests and ensure they and the pipes get what they need. The brilliant white leathering shows that these have been recently releathered. Also note in the photo on the right the two orange ear plugs on the left side in back. These come in handy when tuning the organ! Solo - wind chests




Solo - thermometer




It is important for the organ chambers to be kept at a constant temperature and humidity. This helps preserve the equipment and reduces the factor things go out of tune. The thermometer at the right is reading 74 degrees, but someone has somehow figured out that it reads one degree high so the official Robert Morton organ Solo chamber temperature is 73 degrees.








Solo - name plate





Somewhat hidden since it faces a wall and is usually blocked by the door to the chamber is the builder's plate for the organ. It is assumed that 2366 is the opus number of this instrument. The pipes have their own numbers on them which do not match to this.